Portugal Telecom SGPS board says dos Santos bid price too low

Redacción de Reuters

2 MIN. DE LECTURA

LISBON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) bid for Portugal Telecom SGPS from the daughter of Angola’s president is too low and does not reflect the company’s true value, PT SGPS’s board said in a statement.

Isabel dos Santos made her 1.35 euros a share offer for PT SGPS last month. Under Portuguese takeover rules, the target’s shareholders have to decide on the offer and its board can only express its views but not take strategic decisions.

PT SGPS’ only real asset is a 25.6 percent stake in Brazil’s Oi, which it holds after a merger between the two companies. The operations of Portugal Telecom in Portugal have been transferred to Oi and Oi has agreed to sell those to telecoms group Altice.

“The offered price ... does not reflect the intrinsic value of PT, including the value arising from the potential growth of Oi in the medium and long term resulting from the consolidation process in the Brazilian telecommunications market,” the board said in a statement.

Dos Santos’s bid for PT SGPS is conditional on the sale by Oi of the Portuguese assets not going ahead.

“The offerer establishes a set of conditions which are questionable since the verification of one of them is dependent on a third party, Oi, and/or incomplete for the launch of the tender offer,” the board said.

PT SGPS has not yet said when shareholders will decide on the offer. Its shareholders also have to vote on the sale of assets to Altice.